ABSTRACT
As predicted (Parry, 2019), the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has recently conceded that esports is not (Olympic) sports and has dropped the use of the term. It is clear that esports will never be on the Olympic Programme (Parry, 2021). Instead, the IOC is exploring the nature and value of “virtual sports” and has initiated the first edition of the “Olympic Virtual Series” programme in May/June 2021. However, the lack of a conceptual understanding of “virtual sport” has led to confusion. “Virtual sport” may refer to several different kinds of activities and does not necessarily preclude the possibility that some forms of virtuality can be incorporated into “real” sport. We reconsider what the IOC has meant by “physical virtual sport” and “non-physical virtual sport” and suggest that, just as the term “esports” had to be abandoned, the term “virtual sports” will also have to be abandoned, or at least have its use redefined.
